After Patriot Act news producer and Pakistani writer Nur Nasreen opened up about her ordeal of working on the Netflix talk show starrring Hasan Minhaj, others affiliated with the show also revealed the way they were treated.
Iva Dixit of the New York Times re-tweeted Nasreen's statement and said, "That show was not just one star’s brilliance and charisma. The people whose labor made it what it was were treated horribly, and I’ve watched my friends break down in real time from what they went through while working there."
That show was not just one star’s brilliance and charisma. The people whose labor made it what it was were treated horribly, and I’ve watched my friends break down in real time from what they went through while working there. https://t.co/9hbhKsEzCt
— Iva Dixit (@ivadixit) August 21, 2020
Writer and producer Amy Zhang also extended her support to Nasreen, adding that it was traumatising for her to witness what happened. She confirmed that other women of colour also went through the same.
"It was traumatising to witness Sheila, Nur, intrepid producers who led some of our top episodes – Amazon, Saudi Arabia, Indian Elections – be silenced, treated unfairly and made to later doubt their own skills in a toxic newsroom. They were not the only WOC who went through this," claimed Zhang.
It was traumatizing to witness Sheila + Nur, intrepid producers who led some of our top episodes--Amazon, Saudi Arabia, Indian Elections—be silenced, treated unfairly + made to later doubt their own skills in a toxic newsroom.
— Amy Zhang (@azhang852) August 24, 2020
They were not the only WOC who went through this. https://t.co/yED47UaoXB
Previous employees of the show also came forward with their experiences and condemned the behaviour for similar future prospects, given Patriot Act has now ended.
i joke about PA & i take pride in the work i did there because thats how im dealing with having just lost my job. but there was a lot that went on behind the scenes with certain power dynamics that disproportionately affected the women of color on the show.
— zach silberberg (for hire) (@zachsilberberg) August 21, 2020
While Patriot Act should be celebrated for the underrepresented voice it brought to a blizzard white genre, it should also be condemned. Nur is my brilliant friend who, among other WOC, faced mistreatment while employed by the show. Absolutely no workplace is immune to prejudice. https://t.co/1s6BlM4uI6
— Wil Kauffman (👈 Hire me) (@wilburman4) August 22, 2020
In June 2020, journalist and editorial producer, Sheila V Kumar had also took to Twitter and to reveal that she had "never been more unhappy" than when she was working at Patriot Act. Following her tweet, another user had opened up about her experience and agreed with everything Kumar said.
I've been thinking all day about @prachigu and @amalykinz's tweets on their former workplaces, and how much courage it must have taken to speak out. So I'd like to join them and say, I've never been more unhappy than when I was working at Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.
— Sheila V Kumar (@SheilaVee) June 8, 2020
So proud of @SheilaVee for speaking up. There are many of us from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj who have been too afraid to speak out for fear of backlash. I won’t share my entire story quite yet, but I will share that I recently had my one year anniversary of quitting the show. https://t.co/WjGURLiXTg
— Camille (@kobitchke) June 9, 2020
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will further episodes of this show filmed? if not, it will be an sad and very disappointing end to an out of the box show who taught us what actually freedom of speech is! I appeal the producer to please work on the betterment of the work environment of the show so that millions of fans around the world won't get disappointed.